Freeport has a big breakthrough

The Pretzel girls won their first sectional match in program history, topping Wauconda 2-0 in the Belvidere Class 2A soccer sectional.

“I’m real proud of the girls today,” Freeport coach Nick Namio said. “Wauconda’s a solid team.”
Early in the match, though, the Bulldogs looked like they were going to be the first team to score.

“They were just going after it like crazy, attacking balls,” Freeport defender Tyra Maher said. “Sometimes they had more (attackers) than us (defenders), but we got over it and scored a goal.”

Not only was Maher able to clear the ball in times of trouble, but keeper Heather Kittoe-DeBoer made a pair of tough saves to keep the match scoreless.

In the second half the Pretzels didn’t waste much time scoring their first sectional goal ever.
Hope Stayer applied pressure to a Bulldog defender, forced a turnover, then knocked the ball into the net from 16 yards out.

“You don’t realize how hard a shot that was to make,” Namio said. “She had to chip it over the goalie’s head from an angle, and she hit it perfectly into the side netting.”